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ARLINGTON, Va. — The Office of Naval Research wrapped up a four-day push to connect with industry on Sept. 24, pairing its Innovation Industry Days with a two-day set of Focus Area Technical Exchanges at George Mason University’s Mason Square in Ballston. About 300 attendees from defense, commercial and emerging tech firms took part, according to ONR.
“What we saw this week was industry showing up ready to solve real problems, not hypothetical ones,” said Dr. Thomas Fu, ONR Executive Director performing the duties of Chief of Naval Research. “The direct dialogue between our program officers and our partners is exactly how we close technology gaps faster and get capability into the hands of Sailors and Marines sooner.”
Across the first two days, ONR leaders and technical staff outlined 15-year science and technology roadmaps spanning 11 Focus Areas and detailing research opportunities, challenges and near-term needs for the Fleet and Force.
The Focus Areas include Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy; Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) and Naval Space; Directed Energy and Kinetic Systems; Materials and Electronics; Human and Biological Systems; Manufacturing; Naval Engineering; Naval Aerospace; Ocean Atmosphere and Space; Power and Energy; and Undersea Systems.
Organizers combined large portfolio briefings with smaller “office hours” to spur two-way technical exchanges rather than one-way presentations. The ONR TECHx portion built on those sessions with targeted discussions and one-on-ones between company representatives and ONR program officers and technical leads.
ONR said more than 200 of the companies in attendance were new performers for the organization, an indicator that the outreach drew interest from nontraditional partners as well as established defense contractors.
Event staff said the smaller-group format let participants drill into specific priorities, share relevant capabilities and explore concrete paths to collaboration. The paired I2D and TECHx construct is intended to give industry more frequent touchpoints with Navy and Marine Corps research priorities.
Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Arlington, ONR oversees naval science and technology investments across basic research, applied research and advanced technology development for the Navy and Marine Corps.
